Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
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In the January 1758 edition of the Literary Magazine, an anonymous writer widely believed to be English poet and author Oliver Goldsmith presented a table comparing 29 English poets, rating them on a scale in each of four aspects of literary greatness.[5] A score of 20 was literary perfection.[6] Some of his estimations:[5]
Genius | Judgement | Learning | Versification | ||
Geoffrey Chaucer | 16 | 12 | 10 | 14 | |
Edmund Spenser | 18 | 12 | 14 | 18 | |
William Shakespeare | 19 | 14 | 14 | 19 | |
Ben Jonson | 16 | 18 | 17 | 8 | |
Abraham Cowley | 17 | 17 | 15 | 17 | |
Edmund Waller | 12 | 12 | 10 | 16 | |
John Milton | 18 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
John Dryden | 18 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
Joseph Addison | 16 | 18 | 17 | 17 | |
Matthew Prior | 16 | 16 | 15 | 17 | |
Alexander Pope | 18 | 18 | 15 | 19 |
Some other poets Goldsmith placed on the scale: Michael Drayton, Lee, Aaron Hill, Nicholas Rowe, Garth, Southern and Hughes. John Donne was not listed, because, wrote Goldsmith, "Dr Donne was a man of wit, but he seems to have been at pains not to pass for a poet."[7] (See also Mark Akenside's "Balance of Poets" of 1746.)
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article: